THE HAGUE – The Dutch government is investing eighty million euros in projects that should stimulate the economic progress of the Caribbean islands, as shown by the financial documents published on Budget Day.
Incidentally, this amount comes from the National Growth Fund, for which the Rutte IV cabinet had originally pledged 130 million euros. Fifty million of this amount has been written off, as a result of which the islands no longer receive that amount, and the remaining eighty million is now transferred to the budget of Kingdom Relations.
Of that eighty million euros, forty million will be invested in the construction of a new port on Saba and sixteen million in improving the road network on Bonaire.
According to the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, both projects contribute to the economic self-sufficiency of the islands and give a boost to important sectors such as tourism.
In addition, 24 million euros will be reserved for the improvement of the food supply on Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, which should reduce dependence on food imports from abroad in the long term.
In addition to these investments in infrastructure and food supply, the government is also taking additional measures to combat poverty in the special municipalities of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba.
Every year, two million euros are allocated for poverty and debt counselling, and one million euros for school meals. In addition, eight million euros will be made available annually to strengthen the purchasing power of parents and people with low and middle incomes on these three islands.
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